Repository Filtering

GitHub Star Tracker provides powerful filtering options to control which repositories are tracked. This is especially useful when you have many repositories but only want to monitor specific ones.

Filter Execution Order

Filters are applied in the following order:

only-repos - If specified, only these repositories are tracked (all other filters are ignored)
visibility - Filter by public/private/owned
include-archived - Include or exclude archived repositories
include-forks - Include or exclude forked repositories
exclude-repos - Exclude specific repositories or patterns
min-stars - Minimum star threshold

When only-repos is set, it takes precedence over all other filters. Use it when you want to track an explicit list of repositories.

Visibility Filter

The visibility option controls which repositories are fetched based on their visibility status.

Available Options

all (default)

Tracks both public and private repositories you have access to.

visibility: all

public

Only public repositories.

visibility: public

private

Only private repositories.

visibility: private

owned

Only repositories you own. Excludes organization repositories where you’re a member but not the owner.

visibility: owned

Configuration Examples

with:
  visibility: public

Repository Status Filters

Control whether archived and forked repositories are included.

Include Archived Repositories

By default, archived repositories are excluded. Enable this to track them:

with:
  include-archived: true

Include Forked Repositories

By default, forked repositories are excluded. Enable this to track them:

with:
  include-forks: true

Exclude Repositories

Exclude specific repositories by name or using regex patterns.

Exact Name Matching

Exclude repositories by their exact name:

with:
  exclude-repos: old-repo, test-repo, archived-project

Regex Patterns

Use regular expressions for pattern-based exclusions. Regex patterns must be wrapped in forward slashes with optional flags: /pattern/flags

with:
  exclude-repos: /^test-.*/, /^draft/i, /-old$/

Common Patterns

Pattern	Description	Example Matches
`/^test-.*/`	Starts with “test-”	test-app, test-lib
`/.*-old$/`	Ends with “-old”	project-old, app-old
`/demo/i`	Contains “demo” (case-insensitive)	Demo-App, my-demo, DEMO
`/^(temp\|tmp)-.*/`	Starts with “temp-” or “tmp-”	temp-repo, tmp-test
`/[0-9]{4}$/`	Ends with 4 digits	backup-2023, archive-2024

Implementation Details

The filtering logic is implemented in src/infrastructure/github/filters.ts:14-23:

function matchesExcludePattern({ name, patterns }: MatchesExcludePatternParams): boolean {
  return patterns.some((pattern) => {
    const match = REGEX_PATTERN.exec(pattern);
    if (match) {
      const regex = new RegExp(match[1], match[2]);
      return regex.test(name);
    }
    return name === pattern;
  });
}

Only Repositories (Allowlist)

Track only specific repositories, ignoring all other filters.

When only-repos is set, all other filters are ignored. This creates an explicit allowlist.

with:
  only-repos: my-main-repo, my-other-repo, important-project

Minimum Star Threshold

Only track repositories with at least a certain number of stars.

with:
  min-stars: 5

This is useful for focusing on your more popular repositories and reducing noise from new or experimental projects.

Filter Examples

Example 1: Only Popular Public Repositories

Track only public repositories with at least 10 stars:

star-tracker.yml

visibility: public
include_archived: false
include_forks: false
min_stars: 10

Example 2: All Owned Repos Except Tests

Track all repositories you own, excluding test projects:

star-tracker.yml

visibility: owned
include_archived: true
include_forks: false
exclude_repos:
  - /^test-.*/
  - /.*-test$/
  - /demo/i

Example 3: Specific Projects Only

Track only your main projects:

star-tracker.yml

only_repos:
  - my-awesome-lib
  - my-popular-tool
  - flagship-project

Example 4: All Non-Fork Public Repos

Track all public repositories that aren’t forks, including archived ones:

star-tracker.yml

visibility: public
include_archived: true
include_forks: false
min_stars: 1

Example 5: Complex Filtering

Combine multiple filters for precise control:

star-tracker.yml

visibility: all
include_archived: false
include_forks: false
exclude_repos:
  - /^test-.*/        # No test repos
  - /^draft-.*/       # No draft repos
  - /-backup$/        # No backup repos
  - /^\..*/           # No repos starting with a dot
  - old-website
  - legacy-app
min_stars: 3

Testing Your Filters

To test your filtering configuration:

Use workflow_dispatch: Run the action manually to see which repositories are tracked
Check action logs: The action logs show how many repositories were found and filtered:

Config: visibility=public, includeArchived=false, includeForks=false
After filtering: 12 repos

Use only-repos first: Start with an explicit list, then transition to filters once you understand the pattern

Filter Configuration Matrix

Here’s a quick reference for common filtering scenarios:

Scenario	visibility	include-archived	include-forks	exclude-repos	min-stars
All my repos	`all`	`true`	`true`	-	`0`
Public repos only	`public`	`false`	`false`	-	`0`
Popular repos	`all`	`false`	`false`	-	`10`
Production repos	`all`	`false`	`false`	`/^test-.*/,/draft/i`	`0`
Personal projects	`owned`	`false`	`false`	-	`0`

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Features

Guides

Filter Execution Order

Visibility Filter

Available Options

Configuration Examples

Repository Status Filters

Include Archived Repositories

Include Forked Repositories

Exclude Repositories

Exact Name Matching

Regex Patterns

Common Patterns

Implementation Details

Only Repositories (Allowlist)

Minimum Star Threshold

Filter Examples

Example 1: Only Popular Public Repositories

Example 2: All Owned Repos Except Tests

Example 3: Specific Projects Only

Example 4: All Non-Fork Public Repos

Example 5: Complex Filtering

Testing Your Filters

Filter Configuration Matrix

Next Steps

Action Inputs

Notifications

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Configuration

Features

Guides

​Filter Execution Order

​Visibility Filter

​Available Options

​Configuration Examples

​Repository Status Filters

​Include Archived Repositories

​Include Forked Repositories

​Exclude Repositories

​Exact Name Matching

​Regex Patterns

​Common Patterns

​Implementation Details

​Only Repositories (Allowlist)

​Minimum Star Threshold

​Filter Examples

​Example 1: Only Popular Public Repositories

​Example 2: All Owned Repos Except Tests

​Example 3: Specific Projects Only

​Example 4: All Non-Fork Public Repos

​Example 5: Complex Filtering

​Testing Your Filters

​Filter Configuration Matrix

​Next Steps

Action Inputs

Notifications

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Filter Execution Order

Visibility Filter

Available Options

Configuration Examples

Repository Status Filters

Include Archived Repositories

Include Forked Repositories

Exclude Repositories

Exact Name Matching

Regex Patterns

Common Patterns

Implementation Details

Only Repositories (Allowlist)

Minimum Star Threshold

Filter Examples

Example 1: Only Popular Public Repositories

Example 2: All Owned Repos Except Tests

Example 3: Specific Projects Only

Example 4: All Non-Fork Public Repos

Example 5: Complex Filtering

Testing Your Filters

Filter Configuration Matrix

Next Steps